


City of Stone

by DiaryofaWriter



Series: The Mazanett Stories [7]
Category: Gargoyles
Genre: F/M, Mazanett
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-20
Updated: 2013-04-20
Packaged: 2017-12-09 00:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiaryofaWriter/pseuds/DiaryofaWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Owen and Elisa have to deal with the consequences of turning to stone, and their relationship may not be such a secret anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	City of Stone

"Demona's broadcast originated from Pack Media Studios.   _You_ own it!"  Elisa snarled as she stormed into the large room where Mr. Xanatos and I were working on the Steel Clan robots that would be used to break the spell hanging over Manhattan.  "So, as usual, this is _your_ fault!"

It was painful to me that Elisa and I had to treat one another in such a manner whenever we were in front of my employer.  But this time, I had to give her some credit to her theory regarding Mr. Xanatos.  This whole situation _was_ partly his fault. 

The situation in question was that nearly all of New York--and perhaps several surrounding communities--were turning to stone at sunset.  And all because Mr. David Xanatos had thought that he could trust Demona when she told him that she had a spell that would provide him with the immortality he was seeking.  Unfortunately, Demona had lied when she told us what the spell she used did.  While she claimed that it would take several minutes of life from all those who saw the broadcast, thus providing thousands of years for herself, Xanatos, and his wife, Fox, it did nothing of the kind.

I had realized what she was doing too late.  Puck had been the one to first alert me to what was wrong when the spell did not sound correct.  And then I was immobilized and forced to watch the remainder of the broadcast by Demona, thus rendering me as affected as any other mortal in the city.  

Thankfully, I had managed to break free after Demona left.  Unfortunately, I had taken too long trying to contact Elisa afterwards.  My concern for the woman I loved took precedence in my mind for long enough that by the time I called Mr. Xanatos to warn _him_ , I only managed to warn him that Demona had not been truthful about what spell she was using.  Before I could tell him what the spell she was really using did, I had turned to stone.

It would have been easy for Puck to make it so that I did not turn to stone, but she was far too much of a perfect actress to allow her charade as the "straight man" Owen Burnett to slide for any reason.  I didn't like it too much, and Puck wasn't exactly crazy about the idea herself.  But at least this way we could ensure that Mr. Xanatos had a sense of urgency driving him.  Not only was Fox affected by the spell, but so was I, and I liked to flatter myself that I was irreplaceable to my employer.

And so now I was facing the woman I loved, trying to not give in to the great concern I felt for her, given the fact that my employer was standing right behind us.  Schooling my features into the perfect mask of calm that I had been created to be master of, I managed to somehow keep my voice even.

"Mr. Xanatos is trying to fix the situation," I said, my tone colder than I wanted it to be.  "What are _you_ doing to help?"

The dark look that Elisa gave me was a credit to her skill as an actress.  Her brow furrowed dangerously and her eyes flashed angrily, though I could see her fear and concern hidden behind her frustration with my employer.  Not that I blamed her.  At this point, both Puck and I were rather irritated with his foolishness in trusting Demona with anything this serious.

With our expressions still set in masks of dislike, Elisa reached out to take me by the shoulders.  For one mad moment, I half expected her to kiss me then and there, regardless of whether or not Xanatos was watching us.  She never did, but that was mostly due to the fact that at that very moment, the sun set, and the two of us were frozen in place.

****************

I swayed dangerously as I felt my entire body regain mobility.  In front of me, Elisa did the same, her hand coming up to press against her forehead as her adjusted to once more being able to see and hear.  Out of instinct, I grabbed onto her arm in a protective gesture.  As soon as my hand touched her arm, she threw her arms around my neck, her expression desperate as she held onto me tightly.

"Oh, thank God, Owen!" she cried in relief.

Out of instinct, my arms wrapped around her waist to hold her close against my chest.  I never wanted to let her go now, especially not if something like the last two nights was going to happen ever again.  Our eyes met and before either of us could stop to think about whether or not this was entirely smart, I pressed my lips firmly against hers, tightening my arms around her waist to hold her closer to my chest.  Elisa didn't seem to disagree with this plan of action, as she kissed me back firmly.  I felt one of her hands moving up the back of my neck, which sent pleasant chills up and down my spine.  

For several moments, we remained in this position, simply allowing our relief at being restored to come out through our kiss.  It wasn't until we heard someone clearing their throat that we bothered to pull apart.  Leaping apart as though we had been shocked, Elisa and I turned to find the entire Gargoyle clan and Mr. Xanatos looking at us, their expressions all showing varying degrees of shock or, in the case of my employer, smug comprehension.

"Called it," Mr. Xanatos said calmly, chuckling to himself as he crossed his arms over his chest, the Gargoyle-styled armor he wore clanking loudly and causing me to wince at the sound of steel on steel.

"Elisa..." Goliath said slowly, his tone laced with confusion and I was fairly certain that I detected a hint of anger.  "Elisa, what is this?"

Beside me I felt Elisa stiffen slightly.  Glancing over at her, I noticed that her expression was troubled.  Taking her hand in mine, I gave her fingers a slight squeeze to let her know that I would be with her no matter what.

"Goliath..." Elisa sighed heavily.  "Owen and I are dating.  We have been ever since I was shot."

Broadway looked very torn up at the mention of Elisa being shot, and I couldn't quite blame him.  Goliath, on the other hand, was simply shooting murderous looks in my direction.  

" _So Demona wasn't_ that _far off when she thought that Elisa was a rival..._ " Puck mused in the back of my mind.  " _Better lock our windows at night for a while, Owen._ "

I didn't dignify her with a mental response, though I had to admit her idea that I should lock the windows for a time was not that out of place.  Sighing to myself, I wrapped my arm around Elisa's waist and held her tight against my side.  In my own subtle way, I was letting Goliath know that Elisa was my mate, and therefore not to be touched.

Yes, rather barbaric of me, but I couldn't help myself.  Elisa was the most important thing in my life, and I was not ashamed that Goliath was now aware of that fact.

Aside from Mr. Xanatos looking smug and Goliath appearing ready to tear me limb from limb, the remainder of our audience were mostly shocked.  Bronx and Hudson were the first of the Gargoyles to recover from their surprise, and Bronx made his way over to nuzzle against Elisa's leg.  It appeared that I now had the approval of the clan's Gargoyle beast.  A seemingly meaningless victory, but a victory nonetheless.

"I hope ye know what ye're doin', lass," Hudson rumbled, eyeing me with a look that showed he still had no idea what to make of me as the mate of his human friend.  

Elisa simply nodded her response, pressing closer to my side, as though she was trying to ensure that I wouldn't vanish suddenly.  Not that I had any intention of doing so.  Kissing her temple, I slowly pulled Elisa as close as I could.  This simple action seemed to be the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back for Goliath, as he turned sharply to leave the room.  Hudson was quick to follow, his expression showing his concern for the younger Gargoyle.  The trio and Bronx were slower in leaving, casting curious glances back at Elisa and myself.

Once they had finally left, Mr. Xanatos came up to the two of us and gave Elisa a wry smile.  "I suppose this means we should call a truce, Detective Maza," he said with an amused chuckle, holding out a hand to her.

Elisa stubbornly kept her arms wrapped around me, her eyes narrowing dangerously as she looked at my employer.  "Just because I'm dating Owen does not mean that I'm going to call a truce with you, Xanatos," she said with a bit of a vicious edge to her tone.  "I still hate what you did to my brother, and I am not about to treat you any differently.  I have a job to do, and if you do anything that might be considered illegal, I am not going to go easy on you for Owen's sake."  Narrowing her eyes, she met Xanatos' gaze evenly.  "Are we clear?"

One thing that both Puck and I had come to admire about David Xanatos was that he had an uncanny ability to allow insults or refusals to roll off of him like water off of a duck's back.  He did so now, calmly lowering his hand and nodding his understanding.

"We are perfectly clear, Detective Maza," he said with a chuckle.  "But please, for Owen's sake, feel free to stop by whenever you want to.  Now," he continued with a sigh.  "If you will excuse me, I am going to get out of this armor.  Owen, I think that will be all for tonight."

"Very good, Mr. Xanatos," I said calmly, nodding politely, as bowing was out of the question with my arms still tightly wrapped around Elisa.

With another nod, Mr. Xanatos turned and made his way out of the room, leaving Elisa and I alone once more.  Sighing in mild relief, I turned to look at her and brushed her dark hair away from her face.

"Are you all right, my love?" I asked gently, keeping as much contact between the two of us as possible.

"I am now," Elisa said with a weak smile, holding me as close as she could without causing me any discomfort.  "I'm just glad we don't have to sneak around anymore with the Gargoyles. Though I wish Goliath wasn't so upset..." she trailed off, closing her eyes and resting her head on my shoulder.

Stroking her hair tenderly, I shushed her gently as I kissed her temple.  "Give him time, Elisa," I assured her quietly.  "But for now, you're safe, and that is all that matters."

Smiling weakly, Elisa nodded and snuggled against my chest, her arms slipping under my suit jacket to wrap around my middle.  "If you say so," she said in a low voice, sighing heavily.  Glancing past my shoulder, I saw her frown softly as she looked around us.  "Owen...weren't we originally standing a little further back?" she asked quietly.  "And...why is there an enormous hole in the floor?"

I had not noticed the hole in the floor.  Turning around to look, I frowned to myself in frustration.  That was so irritating.  Now I would have to arrange for the repairs for that.

"I don't think that matters just now, Elisa," I finally said, trailing my fingers through her hair tenderly.  "For now, let's just get out of here."

She seemed to approve of this decision, as she kissed me softly before pulling back to let me lead her to my rooms.  Taking her hand in mine, I laced my fingers through hers and slowly guided her along.  

If I was perfectly honest, I was just as relieved as Elisa that we could now be more open about our relationship.  It was tiring to keep it a secret from Mr. Xanatos.  Especially when we were speaking to one another over the phone.  Now I could actually be open with her in our phone conversations.  Squeezing her hand fondly, I opened the door leading to my suite of rooms and smiled lovingly at her.

Elisa entered the sitting room and blinked in surprise as she kept her hand in mine.  "Wow...Xanatos spoils you," she declared after a long moment of just taking in the room.

I couldn't help the laugh that burst from me in response to her comment, pulling her close again to softly kiss her.  "I suppose you could say so," I chuckled, resting my forehead against hers fondly.

Smiling up at me, Elisa once more wrapped her arms around my middle, keeping me close.  "I'm just glad we're safe," she sighed heavily.  "But what exactly _happened_...?" she trailed off in confusion.  "I know that Demona was involved, but there were these weird three cops that I saw all over the place when I was walking through the city..."

I frowned in worry at this.  Then the Wyrd Sisters were involved in this somehow.  Sighing heavily, I guided Elisa to my bedroom.  "I think I might be able to explain," I said slowly.  "But first, I think I need to change."  I indicated my suit wryly.  "Somehow we both seemed to have gathered a great deal of dust, my love."

Glancing down at herself, Elisa smiled weakly as she noticed the light coating of dust that covered her clothing.  "You wouldn't happen to have anything in my size that I could borrow, would you?" she asked with a chuckle.

For a moment, I couldn't help but imagine Elisa wandering around in one of my old shirts, and it was a very pleasant image.  Clearing my throat a little, I felt my cheeks warming up slightly.  "Unfortunately, I do not have anything in your size, Elisa," I said slowly, smiling tenderly at her.  "However, you are welcome to whatever you can find."

" _Something I would certainly like to see_ ," Puck commented gleefully.

Ignoring that comment as best I could, I excused myself to change into something a little more casual.  When I returned, dressed in a dark turtleneck and a pair of more comfortable slacks, I found that Elisa had taken my invitation to heart.  She sat curled up on top of the bed wearing an old button-up shirt of mine, and it looked like that was all she was wearing.  Clearing my throat as I tried to prevent my imagination from running rampant, I sat down next to her, pulling her close and stroking her hair as she snuggled against my chest.

"You said you might be able to explain who those three strange women were?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, I did," I replied.  "I believe they might be three Children of Oberon, known as the Wyrd Sisters.  Unfortunately, I don't know why they were involved in all of this," I admitted with a shrug.

Elisa frowned thoughtfully at this and sighed heavily.  "Then...did they get into the Eyrie Building?" she asked.  "And if so, how did they?  Doesn't the castle have any protections to keep Fae out?"

I smiled wryly and played with her silky hair as I contemplated my answer.  If I told her about thresholds, then she would come that closer to guessing that Puck and I were one and the same.  But, as I thought about it, that was a risk I was willing to take for her sake.

"There are protections around the castle," I admitted.  "But as a place of business, it has a weak threshold."  At her confused glance, I continued my explanation.  "A threshold is the energy that surrounds the entrance of a home, keeping supernatural beings out.  However, places of business don't have any thresholds.  While Mr. Xanatos, Fox and I live here in the castle, it isn't quite a home, and therefore its threshold is too weak to keep anyone as powerful as the Wyrd Sisters out."

Frowning as she took this in, Elisa nodded slowly.  "How do Fae and other creatures get past thresholds?" she asked.

I sighed heavily and closed my eyes.  "Through an invitation from a resident in the home," I said quietly.  

All I could hope for now was that she didn't put the clues together for a while.  I did not want her to hate me for lying to her for so long.  Elisa was the very best thing in my life, and Puck agreed with me on that much.  So I simply sat with her, holding her close and enjoying her presence for as long as I could.  If I was lucky, then I would have a long time with her before she discovered my secret.


End file.
